Compliance & certification
What your product will be asked for, checked before production rather than after.
Compliance is the part of importing that people discover last and pay for most. A container held at a customs desk, a marketplace listing pulled down, a buyer asking for a certificate that does not exist — all of these are avoidable if the question is asked before production rather than after.
What this page is not: it is not a claim that we hold certificates. We do not manufacture, so certifications belong to the product and the factory that made it. Our job is to establish what your destination and your channel require, and to verify the evidence rather than accept a supplier’s word for it.
How compliance gets handled in a project.
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Destination and channel, first
We ask for the destination country and the sales channel before quoting. A product sold on a marketplace and a product sold through a distributor do not face the same documentation demands, and pricing without that information is guesswork.
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Requirement list, in writing
We set out what is likely to be asked for your product in your market — testing, labelling, declarations — and where the responsibility sits. Where something is outside our competence, we say so rather than invent a requirement or deny one.
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Evidence, not assurances
Where a certificate or test report is required, we ask the factory for the original document and check that the product, the model or the material actually matches what you are buying. A certificate for a different product is worse than no certificate, because you would rely on it.
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Before production, where possible
Requirements change the product: the label, the material, the packaging text. Establishing them before tooling and printing is the difference between a change order and a redesign.
What the categories we source typically face.
Indicative only. The specific requirements depend on the exact product, the material and the destination, and are confirmed per project.
| Category | Typical considerations | Who verifies |
|---|---|---|
| Home storage & organisation | Material declarations, labelling, packaging text. Generally the lightest compliance load of our categories. | Factory documentation, checked against the product |
| Textile and fabric goods | Fibre content labelling, flammability rules in some markets, chemical restrictions on coatings and finishes. | Testing where the market requires it |
| Party & festival supplies | Labelling and chemical restrictions. Note that items designed for or marketed to children move into toy rules, which we quote only where the item can be tested to your destination’s toy safety rules — see the conditions. | Factory documentation; testing where required |
| Bags & luggage | Material declarations, restricted substances in coatings and hardware, labelling. | Factory documentation; testing where required |
| Plastic household goods | Food-contact rules where the item contacts food, material declarations, recycling and packaging labelling. | Food-contact testing where applicable |
| Wood and bamboo | Phytosanitary and treatment requirements for some destinations, plus finish and adhesive restrictions. | Treatment records and declarations |
Read this before you rely on the table: these are the considerations that commonly apply, not a legal checklist for your market, and they change over time. We are not your regulatory adviser and we do not give legal or tax advice. For your specific product and destination, confirm the requirement through the appropriate channel — and tell us what you find, so we can build it into production.
What we will do.
- Ask for the destination and channel before quoting
- List the likely requirements in writing
- Request original documents rather than accept a claim
- Check the document actually matches your product
- Flag anything we cannot verify as unverified
- Refuse a product whose compliance we cannot carry — the list is published
What we will not do.
- Claim we hold certifications — we are not the manufacturer
- Present a certificate for a different product as yours
- Give legal, tax or regulatory advice for your market
- Promise that goods will clear customs
- Take on a product outside the lines we publish
Why we are this cautious: a compliance failure is the one mistake in importing that can cost more than the goods. It is also the area where suppliers are most willing to tell a buyer what the buyer wants to hear. We would rather tell you a requirement is unconfirmed than hand you a document that will not survive scrutiny.
Tell us your destination and product
How the inspection checks the goods · Browse what we source by product line · What our fee covers